Learn how video games can help medicine
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Virtual therapy and precision in medical exams such as x-rays are some of the benefits that video games can have for medical purposes
For almost a decade, video games have ceased to be exclusively for entertainment and have become a useful tool for medicine. The opportunity of this in medicine lies in improving habits, helping in rehabilitation or even been the basis of new scanners that allow to have more accurate medical results.
Leer en español: Conoce cómo los videojuegos pueden ayudar a la medicina
Serious Games For Health is a course that seeks to educate about this new trend. In this one, health and technology professionals come together to learn about the benefits that videogames can bring. According to Yuri Quintana, the creator of the course, the digital proposals that are growing today are based on medical studies that affirm their potential.
Read also: Virtual reality: its potential in medicine and education
1. Mobile applications
There are currently all kinds of applications that can help people suffering from different diseases.
Some of the most popular and used are those that help cognitive diseases. People with autism, for example, can play video games that enhance learning through videos and activities. AbaPlanet, according to El Espectador, is one of these applications that, in addition, allow to keep a record to show the progress of the user and adapt the exercises according to their needs.
There are also others that seek to put the player in the midst of important and fast decisions, so that he is forced to have concentration and analytical skills. These types of applications work for people with attention deficit and can be considered as a type of effective therapy.
2. Video games and medical exams
In 2019, they have begun to use videogame technologies, which has to do with scanners and sensors, to perform medical examinations with greater precision. This seeks to have more accurate and efficient diagnoses. X-ray exams can be the most benefited when using these video game technologies.
According to the DNA 40 portal, the head of radiology of the OSU Wexner Medical Center, Rick White, says that "scanner technology that has been implemented in video games has helped to create data sets to make higher quality 3D images. and with less noise. This allows a precision for the diagnosis, which is not only more accurate, but can be determined in minutes. In addition, they are a way to facilitate access for people who can not receive radiation."
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3. Virtual therapy for neuro-rehabilitation
People who need motor treatment for brain damage may be the biggest beneficiaries of this type of therapy that is currently being tested. The Universidad Autónoma de México (UNAM) is creating videogames that help develop the motor skills of people who have suffered cerebral and vascular accidents (EVC – Cerebral Vascular Diseases), according to DNA 40.
The neuro-rehabilitation through video games seeks to use existing platforms such as Xbox One with Kinect sensors and will also use virtual reality. The main purpose of this new therapy is that patients, especially children and young people, are interested in it, by using games, characters and a lot of dynamism. It also allows you to do it from home, without needing to rely on medical appointments, which is what often makes the recovery process slower.
Currently they are in tests that will last six months and seek to determine if video games are more efficient than traditional therapy. However, they do not seek to replace the traditional but complement it.
LatinAmerican Post | Juliana Suárez
Translated from "Conoce cómo los videojuegos pueden ayudar a la medicina"
